


Yuánfèn

by Mokyo



Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-03-09 21:20:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18925261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mokyo/pseuds/Mokyo
Summary: Destiny brought them together. A knight in shining armor, an inexperienced mage. Wild promises of predestined fates, so many promises.When a dragon finds his treasure, he hordes it.There are dangers lurking in the distance.  There aren't many believers in destiny in Chaldea. Enemies in plain sight, and an impending singularity will test this servant and Master.





	1. The Protectors Arrival

“Hakuno!” A girl with short hair forces open a door, heading over to the nearby bed, shaking her friend, with long brunette hair awake.

“Gudako?” The female sheepishly replies, rubbing her eyes, slowly sitting up.

“I need your help!” Gudako states, with her usual excited energy.

Hold on. Hakuno fumbles around her bed, until she finds her phone, she takes a quick look at her look screen.

Three am. Her friend really busted into her room, at this time of night.

“Gudako, do you know what time it is?”

“Haku, please! It’s really important!” Gudako retorts, sitting next to her friend, on the bed.

It wouldn’t hurt to hear her friend out Hakuno supposes. After all, it’s rare for Gudako to even be awake at this hour.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re gonna think it’s crazy…” Gudako mummers.

“Try me.” At this point, there isn’t much that Hakuno finds surprising or hard to believe. With at least sixty heroic spirits wondering the halls of Chaldea, at all hours, and the fact with the help of the doctor, Romani Archaman herself, and Gudako can rayshift to any point in history.

Nothing is extremely shocking to her.

“We went to a singularity to train, with Kintoki, Robin, and a few others servants….long story short, I ended up separated from my party.”

Hakuno already doesn’t like where this is going. Now fully awake, much to her dismay Hakuno asks, “And then?”

“And then I ran into this hooded servant!” The female Masters eyes light up. “He was a Saber class servant, I’m sure of it!”

Hooded servant? She’s never heard of a servant wearing a hood. At least none that she remembers.

Gudako continues, ‘He saved me! I would have been dead, without him…”

“You sure he was a servant?” Hakuno questions, it doesn’t hurt to be sure after all….

“Of course, I am! Who else would use Excalibur?!”

Wait, wait, wait. “Gudako….but Arthur is a female. Artoria is already summoned here.’

“Who else would use Excalibur?” Gudako stands up.

Hakuno guesses that Gudako has a point but…..

“You don’t believe me.” Gudako says frowning.

“I didn’t say that. It’s just…”

“I want you to help me summon him.”

Hakuno raises an eyebrow. “I don’t want to be a Master, again.”

“No, no no.” Gudako assures her friend. “I meant; I just want you to be with me while I summoned.”

Oh. “So, you just want me to sit with you then?’

“Yes!” Gudako tugs on Hakunos hand. “I should have made that clearer. Sorry Hakuno.”

A wave of relief hits Hakuno. Crisis averted. “Can’t this wait, until in the morning though?”

“I have a good feeling. I’ll leave you alone for the rest of week, please.” Gudako claps her hands together.

Hakuno resists the urge to sigh out loud. The last time her friend had a “good feeling,” she ended up summoning Angra Mainyu, instead of Karna.

“…..Okay. I’ll sit with you, while you summon.” With Gudako pleading with her like this, she can’t exactly say no.

“Really?” Hakuno nods. “Yes! Let’s go then.” Gudako once again, grabs her hand leading, Hakuno out of her room before she can even get her shoes on.

As Gudako leads the way to the summoning room, Hakuno notices how dead quiet it is in Chaldea. If it wasn’t for the fluorescent lights that are always on, it would be a little more than creepy.

“It’s really quiet.” Hakuno mummers.

“Mm.” Gudako hums. “That’s another reason, I wanted to summon now. No distractions for you, or me.”

That makes Hakuno laugh. “You would be so focused on your summoning, and then end up getting paged.”

“It’s not fair! How come I have to attend those stupid daily meetings three times a day, but you don’t?!”

“I’m not humanities last Master!” Hakuno teases.

“Yeah, yeah.” Gudako takes a turn right. “Have you started talking to Gilgamesh again yet?”

“No.” Hakuno confesses. “Enkidu keeps trying to get me to talk with him, though.”

That’s not a lie. The clay being finds her at least once a day, trying to convince her to speak with their friend again. “Please, can you just talk to him?” the being would ask.

No. She’s not going to initiate the conversation with the King of Heroes first.

“You still haven’t told me what exactly happened.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”  

Gudako looks back at Hakuno, whose looking down at the ground. “It’s okay. If you ever want to talk about it, let me know. There’s a lot of servants who will defend you, you know?”

That’s the problem.

“I know.” Hakuno smiles at her friend. “Thank you, Gudako. I’m really lucky to have a friend like you.”

“Well, we can forget about Gilgamesh for now.” Gudako stops in front of large door, pulling out a name badge from her pocket. “I don’t want to make you sad.”

“I’m not sad at all.” Hakuno argues, as Gudako swipes her badge onto the panel.

“Okay, okay.” Gudako smiles back at Hakuno, heading inside as the lights flicker on. “Let’s go summon, a servant.”

Hakuno stares up at the ceiling of the dreary summoning room, as Gudako makes another frustrated noise.

Her brown eyes flicker to her friend, as another paper card slowly falls to the ground.

“I think we should call it a morning, Gudako.” Hakuno yawns, stretching. “You’ve been at it for three hours.”

Gudako runs a hand through her hair. “This is irritating! We haven’t even managed to summon one servant!”

Hakuno glances at the stack of cards, that’s been slowly piling up. “We have enough to play go fish, at least. I’m sure Jack, and Nursey Rhyme will be happy.”

“Not funny.” Gudako looks at her slowly depleting pile of gems, called Saint Quartz.

“My funds are getting low…” Gudako picks one of the gems up, smiling to herself looking in the direction of Hakuno.

“What if you just put the quartz inside the summoning circle for me?”

Hakuno frowns, and opens her mouth to argue.

“Relax!~ You won’t summon a servant, if anything if we did summon a servant, it would be contracted to me.” Gudako promises.

“Are you sure?”

To be honest, no Gudako isn’t sure, but the older mage doesn’t need to know that. She’s just desperate to summon the hooded Saber.

Gudako gently hands Hakuno three of the rainbow quartz. “Romani says servants can only be contracted to me.” A small lie.

Romani does have more knowledge about how the summoning system in Chaldea works, than herself or even Gudako does, and she doesn’t feel like Gudako would lie to her.

She’s had about enough of people lying to her.

“You just want me to sit the quartz in the middle of the summoning circle? I can do that.”

“You have the lucky touch Hakuno. Why do you think Gilgamesh cares about you so much?”

That earned Gudako a small pout, and a glare. Wrong choice of words.

“You know what I mean! You’re lucky!”

Right. Hakuno isn’t so sure about that, as she carefully sits the quartz down onto the circle.

Hakuno stands back, next to the fellow mage, as bright light fills the room. Three lines. A servant.

“See Hakuno? I told you, that you had the magic touch!” Gudako jokes.

Burning. Hakuno’s body feels like it’s on fire, as if she’s drunk some really bad Sake, that the oni Shuten Douji has given her.

Hakuno screws her eyes shut.

_Bodies. Bodies everywhere. The darkened grey sky, only adds to the malevolence of this scene._

_Only one man remans standing, his blond hair flowing in the wind, as he stares down at the body of the man that he just killed._

_Similar face. Long blond hair. A clean stab through his stomach._

_The blond-haired man, holds his own side. The traitor cut him as well. He can no longer support his own weight, as he falls to the ground._

_This is it. This is the end of everything, Camelot, his reign, the knights of the round table._

_All of it. Gone. In an instant._

Hakuno’s shakes her head, her name being called over, and over.

“HAKUNO!”

“S-sorry.” Hakuno stammers. “I must have spaced out.”

“Y-Your hand…”

What is Gudako talking about? She glances down at her left hand.

Crimson. Blood red. The mark of a Master.

Command seals. These particular command seals appear to be mocking the likeness of a swords tip, making the shape of a cross.

Hakuno’s breathing becomes uneven, as she slowly looks upwards toward the servant, that was summoned.

…Blue cape, white-sliver armor. A hood covering his face.

This is the servant Gudako was going on about.

The servant she’s summoned. Gudako was misinformed, or intentionally gave her misinformation. All to summon, this servant.

Hakuno takes a step closer.

“I am Saber.” The mans silky smooth voice introduces himself.  “A servant who will both protect you, and the world.”

Hakuno can manage to catch a glimpse of his eyes. As green as the brightest emerald.

“Are you my Master?” Saber asks, glancing down at Hakuno’s newly acquired command seals.

…. This is not good.


	2. Partnership

“DOCTOR!”

A loud banging on the door. Slowly, the long-haired doctor opens his green eyes.

What in the world? The doctor of Chaldea cringes as he hears a few more loud pounds at his office door.

Gudako?

His eyes glance at the nearby clock. Seven A.M.

Something is definitely wrong.

Rubbing his eyes, he fumbles around a moment, before touching the panel to unlock his office door.

It doesn’t take long, before the doctor is met with two girls staring him down….and a male. Someone he’s never seen before, here in Chaldea.

Blond hair. The same green eyes as him. Armor.

This person is a servant then. Gudako must have just summoned him. She must be eager to register him with Da Vinci…

Wait. If Gudako is just trying to register this servant with Da Vinci, why is she, and the newest mage in Chaldea, Hakuno, at his doorstep?!

“Doctor!” Gudako exclaims. “Sorry to wake you up, but this is an emergency!”

Oh no.

“Master,” The male standing beside Hakuno, mutters. “Who is this man? According to the other Master he is a physician but…”

Hakuno’s eyes meet the doctor’s irises.

Romani Archaman the head of the medical department, and the acting director of Chaldea.

“U-Um.” Hakuno starts, “I’ll explain..”

Romani glances down at Hakuno’s left hand.

Command seals. How in the world..? Looking at the blond servant. The situation all starts to make sense.

“Let’s talk inside of my office.” Before a Sumerian king happens to be wondering about, this early in the morning and sees the situation at hand.

He’s no fool. He’s aware that no amount of Command Spells would be able to hold the King of Heroes back if he was ever made aware, that his former Master was contracted to another person.

Romani watches as Gudako heads inside of his office easily, meanwhile it would appear that the nameless servant, is having a bit of an argument with his new Master.

“Hakuno.” Arthur whispers, grabbing ahold of her hand once more. “Are you sure this is safe? There is something about that doctor…” Arthur shakes his head, “There is something not quite right about him.”

“Saber…” Hakuno starts, giving her servant a small smile, “Romani is a good person. He’s helped me out a lot here, in Chaldea. Trust me.”

Those emerald green eyes, stare at her for what feels like an eternity. Is it her imagination, or is her face heating up underneath that gaze of his?!

“Hakuno…?” Romani’s voice breaks Hakuno from the gaze that is making her heart race.

“Oh!” Hakuno quickly, looks back at her servant, before heading inside of Romani’s office.

Romani nods his head at the Saber, an invitation for him to follow his Master. Arthur runs a hand through his hair, before reluctantly following Hakuno.

“Hakuno!” Gudako eyes light up, upon Hakuno entry. How can she still be so energetic? She’s accidentally summoned ONE servant, and she’s exhausted.

Gudako has been summoning servants all night. Many of them disappearing, as quickly as they appeared.

In many ways, as much as she hates to admit it, Gudako is much stronger than she could ever be.

So, why did this servant contract to her, instead of Gudako?

“Doctor, while I was summoning last night, something strange happened….” Gudako begins to explain.

Romani again, glances at Hakuno’s command seals, “Hakuno, can I see your left hand for a moment?”

Ah, so the doctor has already noticed then. Normally, Romani would try to avoid an uncomfortable situation, like this. Instead, he’s being unusually calm, acting like a real adult even.

Hakuno holds out her hand, for Romani to take a closer look at.

Romani utters a small “Thank you,” before reaching out to take Hakuno’s hand, only to be met with a look of disdain from the nameless servant.

“I’m just taking a look at your Master’s command seals.” Romani explains, “I’m not sure what issue you have with me, but I can assure you that I have your Master’s best interest at heart.”

“I don’t know what it is,” Arthur takes a step forward, “But, I feel that there is more to you, than meets the eye.”

“I’m just a doctor.” Romani promises, taking a closer look at the command spells. Completely different from Gudako’s command spells….

Honestly, the older mages command spells look like a small sword.

“There is just something fishy about you.” Arthur reiterates.

“What is your class?” Romani asks, doesn’t hurt to get information about who this servant exactly is.

“Saber.” Hakuno responds.

“Master..” Arthur complains, sighing a bit. “While I apricate your willingness to be honest, perhaps that honesty will get you in trouble one day.”

Hakuno opens her mouth to argue with the Saber, being “too honest,” is there really such a thing? It’s best to be honest….up to a certain point. There isn’t any reason to hide, Saber from Romani, or the rest of the staff.

There’s only one person she’s somewhat, no scratch that, _extremely_ worried about.

Gilgamesh. While it’s true that she doesn’t and has no interest talking to the arrogant king, at this moment, she can’t exactly hide Arthur forever.  Especially not when there is an off chance, that Gudako will bring the Archer with her, to any training ground, or mission she might need help with.

“Hakuno. Did you hear me?” Romani asks, causing Hakuno to jump a bit. “I need to check your vital signs, and your magic circuits.”

“O-Oh. Right.” Hakuno takes a seat in a nearby chair, as Romani rummages through a drawer in his desk for a moment.

“Doctor, is there any way to transfer Hakuno’s command seals to me?” Gudako asks, as she watches Romani press a stethoscope to Hakuno’s chest.  

“If this was a normal grail war, then I would say yes but…” Romani leans over, grabbing a small device, fiddling with the buttons on it before the lights light up, signally that it has been successfully turned on. “This device will check your magic circuits, to see if they are damaged from the summoning.” To which Hakuno nods her head.

At least it’s not a shot. She still cringes whenever she thinks about, the time Romani made her, and Gudako catch up on all of their shots.

Never again.

A small clip is placed on her finger, as the doctor returns his attention to Gudako. “I think this is a good opportunity. Hakuno is a strong mage in her own right, and Saber is the strongest class. I believe that Hakuno would be a great asset to us, as a Master instead of just support.”

That statement causes the last Master to frown. “Doctor, you don’t understand, I was the one preforming the summoning! Something went wrong, and Arthur contracted to Hakuno!”

So that’s what happened? Romani can’t deny, that this does make the situation a bit more confusing…

“Servants contract with the Master, that summons them.” Arthur chimes in, much to Hakunos surprise.

“B-But Hakuno didn’t call you…” Gudako mutters.

“If it’s an issue, I can find a way to give my command seals to Gudako, I don’t want to cause any problems. Not after you have given me a place to stay.”

“Master!” Arthur scolds, truly this woman is far too kind.

A small beeping sound, loud enough to stop the commotion for a second.

“Ah, good.” Romani gently removes the clip from Hakuno’s finger, studying the monitor for a moment.

Arthur stares at his new Master, her mana is incredible. Most Masters would have already keeled over by now, after summoning a servant.

It could be just his imagination, but he _does_ feel stronger than usual _._

He needs to get to know this girl better, once this whole ordeal is over with.

“The good news is that your magical citrus appears to be just fine.” Romani states, happily.

“That bad news…?” Hakuno mummers.

“Is that you need rest.” Romani finishes, standing up. “That goes for both you, and Gudako.”

Gudako yawns, “I can still summon.”

“Negative.” Romani quickly shuts that idea down. “Hakuno won’t be giving up her command seals, and you will be going to take a nap. Hm…I suppose that it would be bedtime for you both though….” Romani mutters.

Gudako lets out a huff, before standing up. “Fine, fine. I kept telling Haku, that she needed a companion anyways. I’m not sure how Goldie will take the news…”

Goldie…? Arthur is very confused by that statement. “Hakuno, who is “Goldie?”

Ah, shit. Hakuno wasn’t expecting him to ask that question.

“You’ll meet him eventually.” Hakuno looks up at Arthur, again feeling lost in those eyes of his.

“We’ll keep this a secret for a now!~” Romani winks, that cheerful disposition returning to his person.

Hakuno bites her lip. She isn’t sure how long the three of them could keep, her contracting to a new servant a secret. Even more so, when Gilgamesh nine times out of ten, can sense that a new servant has been summoned.

Hakuno can hear Gudako giggling as she leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

“Now, Hakuno.” Romani turns around to face his desk, picking up a small deck of cards, handing them to Hakuno. “After you rested, I would like you to take Saber to see Da Vinci, to register him. Then I would like for you and Gudako to head for the mission gate, there’s a small task that needs to be taken care of, and it would be a perfect chance to test your servant’s strength.”

A list of tasks already. The victor of the Moon Cell feels like she’s back in high school….this task list might as well be homework.

“What are these cards for then?” Arthur questions.

“They are strengthening cards.” Romani explains, “You might not even need all of them, but you need to help your Master gauge how many she needs to use on you.”

That makes sense. Somewhat. Arthur can do that, with not many issues.

“You know how to apply them, Hakuno?”

“Mm.” Hakuno finally stands up. “I’ve applied them to other servants before.”

She’s decided to leave off the fact that Gilgamesh is the only servant, she’s ever applied these cards to before.

“That’s good! Now, get some rest.”

Hakuno smiles at Romani, before saying “Thank you,” exiting the doctor’s office.

Hakuno looks around the hallway, sighing a sigh of relief. Thank the gods that there aren’t any servants around still.

“Master, shall we be heading to your chambers now?”  

“That’s right. Let’s head this way, my room isn’t too far from here.”

“I will follow your lead, Master.” Arthur softly replies, as Hakuno begins to lead the way.

The walk to her room, is silent. Awkward even. This is uncomfortable…. She needs to say something. Get to know her new partner better, once she opens her bedroom door.

“Um, this is my room. It’s not glamorous or anything, like your castle when you were alive, Arthur.” Hakuno digs through her pockets, in order to find her name badge.

A laugh. Hakuno feels her heart skip a beat as she turns around to look at the King of Knights, only to see his eyes closed, smiling as he laughs.

That laugh of his…it’s like both thunder and honey combined. So sweet, but yet loud like thunder.

“Sorry, sorry.” Arthur manages to calm himself down, still smiling that sweet smile in her direction. “I have camped outdoors, I am not sure what kings you have been in contact with, but I assure you I am nothing like them.”

“I didn’t mean to insult you.” Hakuno quickly turns around, and presses her name badge to the door, a small beep can be heard, before the door slowly slides open.

“That’s not the case at all.” Arthur assures her. “I am just happy that you are calling me by my true name.”

Hakuno hand slides around the walls of the dark room, hunting for the light switch. “Well, were effectively partners now. I want to treat you like an equal.”

There it is! The light switch. Hakuno flips the switch on, the lights flicker for a moment, lightning up the room, in a few seconds.

“Equals? I think I would like that, quite a bit Hakuno.”

Arthur follows behind Hakuno, looking around the room, taking in the new surroundings. A rather large bed, a desk with many books, mostly about magic…a T.V, with a few different consoles, and video games.

“You remind me of my court mage with all of these books about magic.” Arthur teases.

“I just want to get stronger as mage.” Hakuno confesses.

“That’s a good goal.” Arthur moves closer to Hakuno, staring into those deep brown eyes. “You are not like most mages. Many mages would consider their servants tools and nothing more, but yet you wish to treat me as an equal.”

“You’re a person. You have feelings, dislikes, and wants just like I do. It would be cruel of me to ignore those aspects.”

Arthur smiles again, damn this man. He’s going to kill her if he keeps smiling like that!

Hakuno looks down, noticing that Arthur is holding out a hand.

“It’s a handshake.” Arthur states, “Do they not have those in your culture? I forgot you were Japanese, forgive me.”

“N-No. It’s not that. I’m just not used to being treated…” Hakuno thinks for a second, “Kindly” She finishes.

“Who would mistreat you?”

“It’s nothing.” Hakuno quickly shakes Arthur’s hand. So strange. This king is the strangest of them all.

“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…I believe you should rest Hakuno. I can sit at the desk, and wait for you to awaken.”

Dammit. She forgot about those strengthening cards. They take a few hours for the effects to sink in.

“Before that…I want to apply these to your skin.”

Arthur raises an eyebrow.

“Like, Romani said these help your body adjust to the mana flow here, and in turn will make you slightly stronger. I just need you to take…” Hakuno motions at the armor that the Saber is wearing. “The top half of your armor off.”

Arthur face flushes pink, “Hakuno…. I’m not sure...”

“I-It’s not like that!” Great, not she’s blushing. “I just need to apply these directly to your skin, and I need a lot of surface area!”

Arthur reluctantly does as Hakuno instructs, the armor disappearing in a flash of light.

Handsome. That’s the first word that comes to mind, upon seeing Arthur’s half naked body.

No, no no. She can’t think about that right now. This is strictly to help her servant, nothing more.

“Okay…” Hakuno unwraps the gold stack of cards. “These might be cold…so sorry. I’m not going to apply all of these at once to you, I’m only going to apply five. You can sit in the chair, next to my desk.”

Arthur nods his head, sitting down. “Thank you for explaining this to me Hakuno. I’m not very familiar with mages rituals, so this is very enlightening.”   

He needs to stop that. Hakuno peels away the adhesive from one of the cards, “Stop that…”

“Hm?”

“That…being polite. It’s weird.”

Arthur chuckles, cringing slightly as Hakuno presses the card against his chest.

“Cold?”

“A bit. Hakuno have you been a Master before? You seem surprised at my kindness.”

“I was a Master to many servants at one point. On a place called the Moon Cell. I’ve met your Lancelot, and Gawain.”

That’s surprising.

“Were my knights good to you? Are any of them here in Chaldea?”

“Yes, to both questions. There’s even a female version of you.” Many of them actually.

A female version of himself? That’s….a bit strange.

“I would like to meet her. My knights as well.”

“She’s extremely nice. You would like her.” Another card is pressed to his chest. “I’ll take you to meet the other knights, I promise.”

“You are too kind, Master.”

Hakuno looks up at Arthur. Honestly this guy…she’s only know him for a few hours and he’s like….this.

Is this the chivalry Artoria was telling her about?

“Arthur…” Hakuno starts, reaching for his hand.

A loud knock.

Shit.

“Master?” Arthur stands up. “Is that the other Master?”

“I’m not sure…” Hakuno sits the stack of cards on her desk, heading to the door.

Please, please, please don’t let this be who she thinks it is…

Not now.

Hakuno presses the button on the panel near her door. Holding her breath as it opens.

“Hakuno!” A long green haired individual greets, holding a packaged sweet roll in their hand.

“E-Enkidu.”

“I brought sweets!” The clay being exclaims, trying to take a step into Hakuno’s room.

“N-No!” Hakuno presses a hand against Enkidu’s chest.

The being looks down. Red marks. There’s only one thing those could be….

Command seals.

“Hakuno? What happened? Did you contract to my friend? Did you talk things out with him overnight? Is that why you don’t want me to come in?”

Shit, shit shit!

“Listen, Enkidu.” Hakuno starts.

“You are being too modest! You know I don’t care about what state you are in!”

“Please.” Hakuno begs. This can’t be happening.

Hakuno feels a presence behind her. “Master? Who is this?”

As if things couldn’t get any worse.

“That is my line!” Enkidu hisses. “Hakuno, who is this strange man?!”

“You are the one who invited yourself, here.” Arthur reminds, the woman. Or are they a man?

“I don’t want to talk to Gilgamesh.” Hakuno mutters. “If that’s what you’re here for Enkidu…”

Gilgamesh?! That bastard is here?!

“Leave.” Arthur tells the long-haired servant.

“You tricked Hakuno into contracting with you.”

“She called me.”

“Stop it!” She tells both the Lancer, and the Saber.

“Hakuno. Is this true?” Enkidu questions. “You wouldn’t betray Gil.”

“He betrayed me.” Hakuno retorts. God, she just wants all of this commotion to stop!

“Myself, and Gilgamesh will find a way to break you of this contract with this shady person.”

“Shady? That is your king. Your king is a tyrant.” Arthur argues, standing in front of Hakuno.

Enkidu ignores the man’s taunts. “Hakuno I will return for you.”

Before Hakuno can argue, the clay being disappears.

Dammit.

“Hakuno, we must be prepared.” Arthur whispers, leading Hakuno back inside. “If that king is here, and he is aware of your existence, on top of being interested in you. Your safety is compromised.”

He’ll protect this Master. No harm will come to her.

Not while he’s around.


	3. I'll Keep You Safe

_“My king.” The long-haired mage sighs, looking in the direction of Arthur Pendragon. “I must tell you this once more, that woman is going to bring you nothing but misery.”_

_Smiling Arthur puts on hand on his court mages shoulder, before uttering, “Merlin, you worry far too much. Guinevere is a kind woman, innocent as well. She has never known a man before.”_

_Frowning, Merlin removes the young kings’ hands from his person, before nodding his head in the direction of the exit._

_“Follow me Arthur.” Merlin urges. “There is something that I must show you.”_

_“Now? Of all times? Merlin, I don’t think I am much of a position to follow your whims at the moment..” After all, he just announced his engagement to Guinevere to his people a few hours ago. “Really, I don’t have time for-“_

_Before Arthur can finish his complaint, Merlin grabs his hand making an annoyed sound, akin to a hissing cat, as he forcefully drags his king out of his chambers._

_“Why must you hurt you father like this?” Merlin complains, as he leads Arthur out of Camelot on horseback._

_“You aren’t my father.”_

_“Ouch!” Merlin exclaims, bringing a hand up to his chest, “I practically raised you, y’know?”_

_“I am thankful for everything you have done for me, Merlin.” Arthur says, picking up speed on his own horse, in order to keep up with the mage in front of him._

_“Then you should show your thankfulness, by trusting me no?”_

_“I don’t think that’s how this works.”_

_“Of course, it does!” Merlin retorts taking a sharp right on the trail._

_“Where are we going, Merlin?!” Arthur asks, doing his best to keep up with Merlin._

_“You’ll see my king.” Merlin looks back for a moment, those bright colored eyes meeting his own._

_“You should enjoy the view for now. I hear once you get married, that your wife keeps you locked away. No more of those hunting trips that you enjoy so much, if you get hitched!”_

_Arthur chuckles to himself a bit. As dramatic as ever._

_“What would an incubus like yourself, know about marriage?”_

_“I’m only half-incubus, I’ll have you know! I’m just as human as you are! Well, somewhat I suppose…”  
Arthur shakes his head, “So quick to walk that statement back, are you?” is what he wants to say, but then he would have to hear Merlin whine more…and well… _

_He’s heard enough of his court mages whining for one day._

_Looking around, the newly crowned king notices the setting sun in front of him. The sun, cascading a myriad of colors, in the sky, illumining the view before him._

_“We are heading down to the lake below!” Merlin tells Arthur, before taking off._

_The lake? What lake? There is no lake in sight. Has Merlin’s age finally caught up to him?_

_“Wait up!” Arthur orders, following after the illusive mage._

_Deeper into the forest the pair goes, with Arthur barely being able to keep Merlin in his sights._

_What was once calm, beautiful scenery, has been replaced with dark, damp, and misty forests._

_Squinting, Arthur looks in the distance. Sure enough, like Merlin stated, a large lake can be scene in the distance._

_Still…something about this place, makes him feel uneasy. He can’t quite put his finger on it._

_“Merlin, where are we?” Arthur finally asks, as the lake is closer into view._

_“I will tell you soon enough.” Merlin simply states, hopping off his horse._

_Following Merlin’s lead, Arthur too, stops his stead, following in the footsteps of the man who has helped him get into the position he is in today._

_“Ah good!” Merlin smiles, clapping his hands a bit. “They have left the boat here for us!”_

_Arthur raises an eyebrow, “They?”_

_Looking down at the boat, Arthur frowns, this looks like it’ll barely hold up Merlin, much less himself AND the mage._

_“Come on then.” Merlin hops inside of the small vessel. “I can trust you to push the boat into the lake?”_

_“This doesn’t look safe.” Arthur comments, “And more importantly, you’re not going to help me?”_

_“It is completely safe!” Merlin waves his hand, “I wouldn’t let you just drown in a lake, if that is what you’re so worried about!”_

_So, he’s not going to help? Gotcha._

_Grunting, Arthur begins to push the boat into the lake’s waters._

_“Thank you, Arthur!” Merlin closes his eyes, just for a moment. “Us mages are quite weak physically speaking, so it is quite nice to have a knight like yourself around!”_

_“Cold…” Arthur whispers, as the water finally touches his skin._

_“Cold?” Merlin questions. “Ah, yes. I suppose it would be. It is still winter in this place. This is not like to lakes in our world. It is not beauty. Come Summertime in this world, the waters will become warm, and will become a breeding ground to the insects that reside here.”_

_Ignoring Merlin’s tangent, Arthur crawls inside of the incredibly small boat, shivering as he does so._

_“Good, good.” Merlin nods his head, as the vessel slowly makes its way to the middle of the lake._

_“Now Arthur, you see that heavy mist ahead of us?” To which Arthur nods his head._

_“Beyond that mist, is the island of Avalon. The beings in that place, both Fae, and otherwise use their powers in Avalon for both good, and evil.” Merlin explains, “Just as the supernatural beings in Avalon use their powers for good or evil, you too, can use your power and judgement as king to do good, or to do evil.”_

_“Merlin..” Arthur begins, only to have his thoughts interrupted by a loud noise, so loud that it almost causes Arthur to cover his ears._

_Turning around slowly, Arthur and his mage is greeted by a beautiful woman rising from the waters. As beautiful as this woman may be, Arthur’s eyes drift down to the object in her hands._

_A sword. A magnificent sword at that._

_“As much as I would like for you to marry a normal girl. Hell, I would even take you marrying a peasant girl at this point.”_

_“Merlin…” Arthur warns._

_“It seems that there is nothing I can do to convince you to not marry this snake. So, if you insist on surrounding yourself with such people,” Merlin tells Arthur, “Then you are going to need a sword that is capable of protecting you from such danger. The woman before you, is called Nimue, she is the Lady of the Lake. The sword in her hands, is named Excalibur.”_

_Nimue, holds Excalibur out before Arthur, mummering a word of thanks, Arthur takes the sword in his hands._

_“Excalibur is quite powerful.” Merlin watches as Arthur inspects his new weapon. “It can cut through iron and steel. Now, if I were to ask you, Arthur, what is more valuable, the sword of the scabbard, what would you say?”_

_Arthur glances at Merlin, before replying simply, “The sword of course.” Earning him a slap on the back of his head._

_“Fool!” Merlin exclaims, “The real power of Excalibur lies within the scabbard. Whoever holds the scabbard, will never die from his wounds.”_

_Arthur eyes widen, as Merlin continues. “Do you see now? Always keep the scabbard by your side. Never allow yourself to be parted from it.”_

Groaning, Hakuno opens her brown eyes, looking around her dimly lit room for a moment.

Somehow, she slept. Somehow, though all the commotion, she slept.

Looking at her door, she sighs. Part of her half expects Gilgamesh to be standing on the other side, when she eventually leaves her room.

“Master!” Arthur lightly touches her shoulder.

….Dammit. She forgot about him.

“Arthur.” Hakuno returns his greeting, shaking her head slightly.

“Is everything alright, Hakuno? Did you sleep okay? I made sure to not allow anyone to disturb you.”

“I slept alright.” Hakuno assures the King of Knights. “My head just hurts a bit.”

“Hmm.” Arthur presses his forehead against her own, causing her skin to flush pink.

“A-Arthur?!”

“Well, you don’t have a fever!” Arthur states, smiling. “You might have slept just a tad bit too long.”

That smile of his…Hakuno quickly shakes those thoughts away as quickly as they popped into her head.

No, now isn’t the time to be thinking those thoughts. She just met him after all!

…That’s when she notices the experience cards still stuck to his body.

She completely forgot about those!

“Hold on,” Hakuno reaches for one of the cards. “I’m so sorry Arthur, I forgot to take these off of you.”

“Hm? Oh, it’s quite alright. They don’t really hurt, or anything. I can remove them myself; you really don’t have to do that Master.”

“No, it’s my job as your Master.” Hakuno retorts, “This might hurt…if it hurts, just let me know, and I’ll stop.”

“I can assure you, Hakuno that you won’t hurt me.”

Good. Slowly Hakuno begins to remove the experience cards from Arthur’s body.

Damn, it’s quiet again. Just her, her still shirtless servant, his soft skin…

She should get to know him. Ask a few questions.

Anything to distract her from how soft his skin is.

“So, Arthur, your Noble Phantasm is Excalibur, right?”

Hakuno cringes inwardly, what a dumb question.

“Yes, Master.” Arthur replies quickly, as he watches her remove the experience cards from his chest.

“Do you have the scabbard, like your legends say?”

A small laugh from the king. “Unfortunately, no Master. I haven’t had the scabbard in a _long_ time.”

“I see...”

“Since you asked me a question Hakuno, do you mind if I ask you one in return?” Those green eyes of his, meeting her own.

“Sure, I don’t mind at all.”

“What is your relationship with Gilgamesh?”

That question causes Hakuno to stop in her tracks for a moment. Going right for the jugular, is he?

“He used to be my servant. A long time ago, we were contracted to each other.” Hakuno says honestly, taking the last few cards off of his person. “There, all done!”

Arthur closes his eyes, as his armor returns to his body. “But he is now contracted to Gudako isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Arthur begins to put two and two together. Gilgamesh must wish for Hakuno to contract with him once more.

“Hakuno, I must warn you, that man is nothing but trouble. You shouldn’t associate yourself with him, even if he used to be your former servant.”

“Don’t worry.” Hakuno stands up, stretching for a moment. “We aren’t on speaking terms right now. As you saw a few hours ago.”

“I don’t like that Gilgamesh and his friend know where you sleep.” Arthur confesses.

To be honest, she doesn’t either but…

“Well, I have you as my servant, Saber. You ran Enkidu off, so I’m not worried as long you’re here.” Hakuno states, refusing to meet Arthurs eyes.

“I’m moved that you have such high expectations of me Master.” Arthur gently takes Hakuno by the hand.

Loud.

Her heart is beating so loud right now.

“Arthur..?” Hakuno manges to get out, as the deadly knight before her brings his lips to her hand.

“If I may be honest, Hakuno. I believe that destiny has brought us together. You have nothing to worry about, Master. I will defend you from whatever dangers we may face together.”

Destiny…?

Corny. This guy is so corny, Hakuno concludes.

“You really shouldn’t be making promises, that you may not be able to keep.” A soft voice warns.

Without missing a beat, Arthur stands in front of Hakuno, only for his expression to soften upon realizing who has materialized in his Master’s room.

White hair, a mischievous look on his face.

“Some greeting I get.” The mage brings hand up to his face, exasperated. “I finally hear that my king has been summoned into Chaldea, and it’s the MALE version of him.”

“Merlin…?” Arthur breathes out.

“Yes!” Merlin peaks behind Arthur, glancing at Hakuno. “It would seem you have the moon girl as your Master. There are worse things in life I suppose.”

“What do you want Merlin?!” Hakuno lets out a sigh of relief as she stands next to Arthur.

“You’re already teaching her bad habits, Arthur!” Merlin complains, “Seriously, I was basically this guys father, Hakuno!”

…And Merlin hasn’t changed at all.

“Get to the point Merlin.” Arthur orders.

Sighing Merlin makes a pouty face, before speaking. “You were about to go training with Hakuno, wasn’t you?”

“Yes, that was the original plan.”

“Well, that will have to wait.” Merlin begins, “Gilgamesh has caught wind of your contact with Hakuno here, and is giving the doctor, and Gudako an earful.”

….Shit.

“But, no need to fear!” Merlin says happily, “The knights wish to see you, and meet your Master!”

“…Now really isn’t the time Merlin.”

Meeting the knights? Hakuno looks up at Arthur. Now that Hakuno thinks about it, she really hasn’t had a chance to show Arthur around Chaldea, or really even talk to the knights herself.

“You know a way we can get to where all the knights are, without running into Gilgamesh, or Enkidu?” Hakuno asks Merlin.

Merlin’s eyes light up. “Yes! Of course! See Arthur? Your Master is thinking of you!”

“Hakuno..” Arthur whispers, “Are you sure? I wish to avoid confrontation as much as possible.”

“You would like to see the knights here in Chaldea, right?”

“Well…” Arthur ponders for a moment, “Forgive me Master, but yes.”

It’s settled then.

“Lead the way Merlin.” This time, she’s the one who grabs Arthur’s hand.

Anything to see that smile of her servant.

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of an experiment for me. I hope you guys enjoy, let me know your thoughts! Wanted to give a quick shoutout to you guys on Tumblr for encouraging me to write this. 
> 
> If you have any questions as always, hit me up on Tumblr, @Kinggpaganmin.


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